Rating Books

Rating books has always been difficult for me. I used to give lots of 5 stars because I like lots of books! Then we had a discussion about it in my book club when most of us got on Goodreads. One member reminded us of what the stars actually mean:

5 -- it was amazing
4 -- really liked it
3 -- liked it
2 -- it was ok
1 -- didn't like it

Well, that changed how I rated  books. I became more stingy with my 5 star ratings. I read lots of books. How do I give a "fluff" book 5 stars when it wasn't life changing or amazingly written? How do you give the same amount of stars to such different genres? 

So, this is my criteria. Sorry, authors, but the highest a fun read is going to get from me is 4 stars. A well written book that I can't stop reading or life changing book gets 5 stars (sometimes the life changing ones take longer to get through because there's more to digest). If I start a book that's an easy read and it takes me a while to get through and I'm interested to read the ending but not anxious to get through it, I'll give it 3 stars. I knock off stars for excessive swearing and sex, although I try not to even read those books. 

I wish there were half star ratings and I'll give them on here because I can. I'll keep my Goodreads stars and the stars on here the same (unless I add half a star).